In recent years, the use of vehicles equipped with an electric motor as a drive source instead of a combustion engine or together with the engine has increased in order to realize a low-carbon society. An electric vehicle (EV) is an example of a vehicle equipped with an electric motor instead of a combustion engine, and a hybrid vehicle (HV) is an example of a vehicle equipped with an electric motor together with a combustion engine. Such a vehicle includes a rechargeable battery (e.g., a secondary battery such as a lithium-ion battery or a nickel-hydrogen battery) which supplies electric power used for driving the electric motor thereto, and is configured to charge the battery using electric power supplied from an external power unit.
Most electric vehicles and hybrid vehicles (to be precise, plug-in hybrid vehicles) currently in practical use receive electric power used for charging the battery via a power-supplying cable which is attachable and removable for connecting the power unit and the vehicle. For example, Patent Document 1 discloses a technology in which electric power is transmitted via a power-supplying cable which is attachable and removable for connecting to a vehicle, in an automated parking facility which stores the vehicle in a storage space using a movable pallet. In contrast to such a technology, nowadays, as shown in Patent Document 2, a method is proposed in which a vehicle is supplied with electric power for charging a battery using a technology in which electric power is wirelessly from a power-transmitting coil to a power-receiving coil.